Centuries ago, as the story goes, the ancient built a shrine to honor the mighty Rapterra. People who entered the shrine and were deemed worthy became spiritually linked to – and temporarily possessed the powers and abilities of – the mystical bird of prey.
Building the temple at the base of a volcano, Mt. Inferna, proved unfortunate. The ground surrounding the magma chamber collapsed, burying the temple of Rapterra under mounds of volcanic rock. The temple seemingly vanished from the earth…
Now, with Professor Winston Whey’s Jungle X-pedition on the hunt, archaeologists have at last eroded away the collapsed volcano’s caldera and discovered the geothermal site… and the ruins of the jungle hawk’s shrine. As luck would have it, the bird’s ferocious spirit remains at the site, launching brave riders to exhilarating new heights. And you and are along for the ride.
Rapterra will be a Wing Coaster produced by the ever-reliable Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M). It’ll begin with riders loading into the unique “wing” trains, where riders are cantilevered on either side of the track with nothing above or below. Rolling out of the station, they’ll align with the ancient ruins of Rapterra’s temple and await the spirit’s call…
To be clear, B&M is a renowned Swiss ride manufacturer, known for its high-quality, high-capacity installations. That includes 200-foot hypercoasters, legendary inverted coasters, vertical Dive Coasters, and even the occasional 300-foot gigacoaster. What they’re not known for is launches. B&M has preferred to stay out of the launch technology department. For decades, there was only one launched B&M on Earth – Universal Orlando’s Incredible Hulk Coaster – and B&M famously insisted that Universal find someone else to manufacture and install the ride’s launch hardware, preferring to stick to tried-and-true technology. Apparently, that moratorium has lifted as reliable linear synchronous motor (LSM) technology has become the go-to for ride acceleration. (B&M has produced in-house launches on a half-dozen rides, including Holiday World’s 2015 coaster Thunderbird, and both SeaWorld’s Pipeline in 2023 and Penguin Trek in 2024).
Rapterra promises to accelerate those suspended wing-side riders from 0 to 65 miles per hour, racing between collapsed temple arches en route to its iconic first maneuver – a 145-foot tall “wing-over.” This unique twist on the classic launched coaster “top hat” will see guests dangle sideways over the pathways of Jungle X-pedition, plummeting to the ground and rising again into a dive loop.
Rapterra will twist and turn, racing low through the jungle before cresting the treeline as it swoops and swirls. Racing back toward Tumbili, it’ll dip through a unique element dubbed a “wing slide” – a tilted plunge toward the midway. Then it’ll rise up, with the ultra-wide trains swirling through an elongated corkscrew. It’ll then head back into the wilderness for a final, hidden element – an extended hangtime inversion B&M calls a “raptor roll.”
Here, unquestionably, lies Kings Dominion’s modern answer to Volcano. A dynamic, explosive, and icon-ready launched coaster that matches its predecessor in height, speed, and inversions, but is tailored to the kind of reliability and capacity needed of a rising star in the Six Flags chain. Packed with the kind of mythology that began with Jungle X-pedition, it’s a clear new anchor for the park…
Of course, it’s not alone… In 2024, the beloved Intamin gigacoaster (the only sister ride to Cedar Point’s Millennium Force), nearby Intimidator 305, shed its association with Nascar’s Dale Earnhardt. As a seemingly-temporary holdover, the ride spent 2024 with a makeshift name and marquee calling the ride “Project 305.” But fans couldn’t help but notice that the cheetah-print stylized sign suggests that in 2025, we’ll see this iconic gigacoaster absorbed into Jungle X-pedition, too… perhaps a speed-focused trial of the jungle cat… This much is certain: the secrets of Jungle X haven’t been fully discovered quite yet…
And until they are, there’s no doubt that Rapterra will serve as a landmark of this park’s incredible new foray into adventure and exploration. On its wings, guests will experience the power of speed of a mystical creature, with tear-whipping acceleration, unusual and iconic elements, and an explosive modern reimagining of what a launched coaster can be. Will you have the courage to harness the powers of Rapterra? We can’t wait to find out…
